Many believe that owning a car is too expensive and there is some truth to this. But when it comes to insurances, you can save some serious money by taking advantage of the different discounts available. This might come as a surprise to a lot of people, but insurance agents don’t always inform consumers of these discounts unless you ask them directly. They might drop a couple of hints, but if you have no idea that these discounts exist, those hints would just fly by. To give you an idea of the discounts you can get from your car insurance, here is a list of them.
The common discounts
There are many car insurance discounts out there, you just have to know which ones you can avail of. The most common of these include:
- Annual Mileage
If you are currently clocking in 12,000 miles each year or less, you might get a discount (in the form of a rebate) up to 11% from your insurance company. Through this discount, you will save around $80 or so each year, which is already a big thing for a lot of people. - Days Per Week Driving and Short Commutes
If you don’t drive your car every day, you can get around 4% in savings from this. The same thing goes if your daily commute only falls between 5 to 15 miles – you can get 4% in savings every year. - Autopay
Whenever you make payments on time, your insurance company will appreciate this. But you will also benefit from making timely payments as you will get around 4% in discounts. To make sure that you always pay on time, set up an autopay system. That way, the money will get debited from your account even if you forget your payment deadline. - Driver’s Ed
Some insurance companies offer discounts to drivers who successfully complete a Driving Safety or Driver’s Ed course. If you complete this course without skipping any of the sessions, you can get discounts. - Multiple Policies
If there is a new driver in your family or you just want to add more policies, consider getting these from the same insurance company. Some insurance companies offer discounts for multiple policies. - Safety Equipment
Safety equipment like anti-lock brakes and anti-theft devices will ensure the safety of your car. Apart from the added protection, such equipment will also allow you to get a discount on your car insurance. - High Deductibles
When you pay out higher deductibles, this allows you to pay lower premiums in the long run.
Bundling
If you get your insurance from different companies or carriers, this takes a lot of time to handle and it’s more expensive too. But if you bundle these insurances – for instance, your property and car coverage – you can get a discount for it. For instance, farmers who combine their home and car policies can get up to 22% discount on their insurance. Bundling is a clever way to get discounts and it’s a lot more convenient too.
Continuous coverage discounts
Most car owners search for different quotes before they renew their policy with their current insurance company. You may have done this too. You want to see if other companies offer better rates. But instead of doing this, you can ask your current insurance company if they offer any customer loyalty discounts if you choose to stay with them. If these discounts will keep your premiums lower than all the other quotes, then you don’t have to change insurance companies. Usually, continuous coverage discounts are between 10 to 15%, but this rate varies per company. Other companies also offer other deals to their loyal customers like accident forgiveness. Either way, you will save some money by taking advantage of this promotion.
Safe driving discounts
There are also discounts offered for safe drivers. Apart from the obvious benefit of avoiding accidents, being a safe driver can get you discounts like:
- Accident-Free Driving
If you have stayed with the same insurance company and you have never had an accident since, you should ask about this discount. Of course, the requirements for this discount would depend on your insurance company. The discount you will get varies too. For instance, there are companies that offer 20 to 30% discount while others only offer 10%. - Safe-Driving
This is another type of discount you can get as a safe driver. You can even download an app to help your insurance company gather information about your driving automatically. Just make sure that you are really driving safely so that the app will confirm this. For this, you can get discounts between 15 to 30%.
Qualifications for certain groups of people
There are certain groups of people who can get car insurance discounts too. For instance, good students can get lower insurance rates. This discount is very helpful for families with college students or teenagers who have a tendency of paying higher premium rates. To qualify for this discount, students must have a minimum average of B in their classes. This is a great discount to take advantage of because drivers in this age range get into accidents more frequently.
There are also some types of professions that qualify to get discounts like those who work as accountants, nurses, teachers, or even those in the army. Sadly, only around 8% of Americans inquire about these discounts. The next time you have a conversation with your insurance company, ask if you qualify for one of these occupational discounts.
Getting married will give you a discount too!
Did you know that married people qualify for car insurance discounts too? Only around 13% of Americans have taken advantage of this discount while the rest don’t inform their insurance companies that they have gotten married. When you think about it, this means that when you get married at a young age, you will save more on premiums than if you get married when you’re older. For example, a 20-year-old who’s married will get approximately a 20% discount compared to a person of the same age who isn’t married.